Brown forum: Latinos seen as 'sleeping giants' in 2016 race

Tuesday

Mar 15, 2016 at 9:35 PMMar 15, 2016 at 9:35 PM

Panelists at Watson Institute gathering say their power could be decisive in swing states

Alisha A. Pina Journal State House Bureau AlishaPina

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The presence of Republican candidate Donald J. Trump in this year's presidential election may wake the "sleeping giants," a term used by some to refer to low Latino voter turnouts in past elections.

The possibility was discussed in a Tuesday roundtable discussion with three panelists at the Watson Institute at Brown University about Latinos' impact on the upcoming race.

They are the largest group of color in the United States with more than 55 million people, yet panelist Heather Silber Mohamed, a political science professor at Clark University, in Massachusetts, said their voter turnout is typically between 40 and 50 percent.

Typical turnout for white and black populations, she said in comparison, is between 60 and 70 percent.

"The biggest unknown is the turnout," said Silber Mohamed, who has studied Latino politics for more than a decade.

She and the other two panelists — Domingo Morel, visiting lecturer in political science at Wellesley College and co-founder and co-chair of the Latino Policy Institute, and Daniel Denvir, contributing writer for Salon magazine — expanded on several knowns.

They include: Latinos have growing influence, particularly with their presence in swing states such as Colorado, Nevada and Florida; many Latinos in the past were reluctant to declare a party affiliation; and recent polls clearly indicate "unfavorable" sentiments — 68 percent in one poll and 77 percent in another — toward Trump and comments he made on immigration, Mexicans, Muslims and others.

Morel and Denvir also talked about attempts and money being put together to mobilize Latinos across America. Morel showed a picture of young Latino, black and Muslim students in Chicago who joined forces last week to protest against Trump. Their presence caused Trump to cancel his rally there.

He also said the changing population among Latinos in Florida, with more Cubans, and more Latinos in the South may alter areas and states that have traditionally supported Republicans.

Moderator Felipe Martinez-Pinzon, assistant professor of Hispanic studies at Brown, repeated a statement made by Ernesto Londoño of The New York Times in his opening statement — "Donald Trump has been an implausible 'Godsend' for the Hispanic community: he is springing thousands of Latin American immigrants to seek naturalization and participate in the upcoming general elections. Naturally to vote against him."